By Thomas Madison
What is this? Is it a travesty of justice, a patriotic vet being arrested for defending our flag? Or is it right and proper police action for defending the property rights of the rightful owners of the flag?
Whatever else it is or is not, it is certainly the odious activity of a gang of thoughtless scumbags. And while I appreciate the sentiment and patriotism of Ms. Manhart for defending our flag, I’m afraid she is denying the very same First Amendment right that she served to support and defend.
It appears the police did the right thing, the only thing they could do, by protecting the personal property rights of the scum from the water treatment plant. They also did the right thing in not charging Ms. Manhart with a crime, just taking her to the station and releasing her, thereby diffusing the volatile situation and upholding the law, while not burdening our courts with nonsense.
It may not be the prettiest part of our Constitution, but freedom is freedom. In America you still have the freedom to be stupid and repulsive.
From Steve Berman, BizPacReview
Free-speech rights ran headlong into a veteran’s love of country when she took the protesters’ American flag because they were trampling on it.
Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart approached a group of protesters who were walking on Old Glory at Valdosta State University in south Georgia, the Valdosta Daily Times reported Friday.
Manhart told the newspaper she was not planning to take the flag at first.
“I did not want anything like this, but I got a call from a student who told me that the flag was on the ground, and they were walking on it,” she said.
“I was just going over there to pick up the flag off the ground. I don’t know what their cause is, but I went to pick it up because it doesn’t deserve to be on the ground.”
University police officers responded and took Manhart into custody, then returned the flag to the protesters, according to the Daily Times. Manhart admitted that she resisted arrest.
Neither the demonstrators nor the police pressed charges against Manhart. Instead, she was given a criminal trespass warning.
Andy Clark, vice president for enrollment, marketing and communications told the Daily Times the warning effectively bans Manhart from any university activity, including graduation and football games.
The protestors declined to comment or identify their cause, although they engaged in spirited debate with university students. Clark said that Valdosta State University officials couldn’t determine if the protesters were students, but added that they had the right to protest on campus.
After the incident, the demonstrators refused to produce student identification cards to campus police, and they were then asked to disperse, the Daily Times reported.
